This chapter is more or less a recap of several things. But it's mostly a take of things from Artemis's view.

Sorry if things might be a bit soppy... I hope I did this well...

The "Lucky" Black Cat

Chapter 4

Artemis

I had no intention of keeping Sissel's body… besides that, he would be coming for it sooner or later.

After a few minutes of contemplating, I figured perhaps his… owners would be the safest bet. Perhaps they would even know something, though I had my doubts. I recalled the number on the nametag and dialed it in on my cell phone (the letters were just replaced with the corresponding numbers obviously).

"Hello?" a man answered the phone on the other end.

"Hello," I said, using a tone of voice to imply someone returning lost property "I believe I have something that belongs to you… or a friend of yours…"

"Who is this?" I could hear the suspicion in their tones.

"No one you need to worry about. I believe I've found a pet that has wandered from home… I am simply contacting whomever I believe to be the owner." I said.

I heard a whisper on the other end too quiet for me to catch.

"My apologies if I have gotten the wrong number…" I continued "but if the stray I have found is yours, perhaps I could arrange a place to meet with you to return your lost pet?" I suggested.

"That would be much appreciated, sir." The man on the other end said, in a considerably more understanding tone. They seemed to have relaxed from receiving a call from a stranger.

"Perhaps the local park? Or could you give me directions to your residence?" I offered.

"The park sounds suitable. I'll meet you there shortly."

"Thank you."

Seconds after I hung up, Sissel's presence intruded on my mind, as infuriated as I might have expected.

Figuring he had come from over the phone line, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the fact that we could still communicate.

"Hm, how interesting… you can talk to me even when I'm alive then?"

His response was still understandably angry but confirmed my thoughts. Perhaps getting information would be easier than I expected. I decided to get straight to business, more or less ignoring his reminder of what he had done for me minutes ago. I was putting my guilt aside for the moment.

"Yes… I'm looking for information Sissel and I will not be denied it." I said sternly, the cat wouldn't be intimidated this time though and just impatiently asked what I wanted. I pushed on.

"I want to know how you can do what you are capable of. Rewinding time is no small feat."

It shouldn't have surprised me when he refused, but I still found myself getting just a bit irritated with his lack cooperation… then again, I couldn't exactly deny what I had done was deceitful. I decided to try threatening him.

"I could just order my bodyguard to destroy the body." The cat's thoughts betrayed him, but I found myself wondering why the body couldn't be destroyed. When I asked, Sissel looked away. I wasn't about to be beaten by an animal at conversation and pressured him again.

"Look Artemis, you've already died once because of this meteorite you're looking to investigate. After this, I'm not exactly inclined to prevent it if it happens again." Sissel responded. He was attacking that point again. I finally decided to concede there… there was no point denying it further and besides… I was already finding myself weighed down with more guilt than I felt I should have… I needed to get it off.

Mother was one thing and Holly was a good friend… but guilt over a cat? What was next? Insects?

"Alright… I acknowledge that this course of action is wrong…" I confessed "but I will be honest with you: I am merely curious about this meteorite. Please Sissel, tell me what is so special about it." I said. If I had been any more frank about my statement, I might have been begging. All these events pointed to the meteor as being the cause: my murder was originally to prevent my learning about it… Sissel seemed rather protective of it… and now he was refusing to tell me about himself. He had to know something and I wished to learn about it. He hesitated to speak for several moments… then he asked for me to return his body to him.

The first thing that crossed my mind of course, was that if his body was truly indestructible as he claimed, he was going to jump from the car as soon as he was in it again and Butler would be too busy with the wheel to be catching escaping animals. I wasn't an idiot… far from it.

"So… you want me to trust that you will tell me what I want to know… if I run the risk that you'll escape." I said, making it clear I wasn't fooled. His thoughts again confirmed that had been his intentions.

Then his thoughts turned over to thinking about those I cared for…

I soon realized that Sissel may be a cat… but he understood these concepts just as well as any human being…

I felt like an idiot right then and I couldn't bring myself to look at the cat… Holly might've wondered if I was going back to my old ways again if she had seen my actions today. It was no wonder I was feeling guilt over having stolen Sissel's body as I had.

Even if I didn't acknowledge it, Sissel was compassionate… and cared about just as many people in his own life and was even bringing himself to care about my own life despite what I had done. It seemed that we had at least a few things in common and I had ignored all of them… all in a selfish search for knowledge.

"Alright Artemis…" Sissel groaned and I looked up "I'll tell you… just let me back into my body first…" I could detect from his thoughts he wasn't going to run. He was going to tell me… if only with the hope it would get me to leave the meteorite alone.

I considering apologizing for my rash actions then but we were arriving at the park soon… I did wish to know about this meteor… I fished my cell phone from my pocket and leaned forward in my seat, holding it as close to the cat's body as I could.

"Artemis-" Butler started.

"Easy, Butler… relax… this is just according to plan." I said calmly, almost soothingly. After a moment, the black cat got up in its seat and stretched, and then climbed over the seat to sit next to me.

"Right then… the meteor…" Sissel said, his tone making it clear that he indeed had had experiences with it. Tiring ones...

"Ten years ago, in an alternate time-line, a very old friend of mine by the name of Yomeil was in the park we're approaching now. He was… in some dire circumstances… and a fragment of meteor struck him…"

As Sissel went into his story, I found the concept of the alternate time-line intriguing and theories and other ideas began to sprout in my mind.

No… I'm only here for knowledge… unless I can help someone with this… I will not use it…

Sissel's friend had apparently found that a dead body that contained a fragment of the meteor, was rendered trapped in a state between life and death…

"Yomeil… he wasn't alive… his body's vital signs were officially flat-lining… but he wasn't exactly dead either." Sissel explained "He apparently lost a lot all at once and I was the only one there to take it with him. I couldn't do anything to help him… I was nothing more than a normal stray cat then…"

"So he adopted you?" I asked, making sure the details were straight in my mind.

"I suppose so… but he wanted revenge on those who had been involved in events and… in trying to exact it… he accidentally killed me…"

I was reminded of my error in baiting Jon Spiro some time back… no, I hadn't been the direct cause of Butler's current condition and my old friend was still alive… but it had been a very close thing and he would've been dead if not for Holly. The two events were similar enough for me to know how Sissel (and most of all, this Yomeil) was likely feeling…

"It was then that I first got my ghost tricks…" Sissel continued "The thing is: the Temsik meteor is radioactive apparently and those who die within that radiation… get ghost powers."

I blinked, intrigue building… so his abilities came from the meteor? Sissel continued.

"It was… a long night, I'll put it that way… and due to a series of circumstances… I ended up going back 10 years into the past and preventing Yomeil's death to the meteor."

Ten years?

I found myself reeling from this. He prevented a death that happened 10 years ago? Sissel's powers were starting to look highly formidable.

"I'm now living the new time-line I brought about because of that… and Yomeil is so much happier now. Along with several others I got acquainted with that night, including those who are my owners now. The previous time-line… I can still remember it and I don't want that kind of tragedy possibly happening again. So please Artemis… leave this alone."

"Wait…" I said "So how did you prevent the meteor from hitting this friend of yours?" I was wondering if he had brought up some sort of shield.

"I had help on that… another friend of mine… had powers like mine but they were vastly different too. We didn't destroy the meteor if that's what you're thinking. We only managed to divert its course but that was all that was needed. If you're wondering what happened to it… you'd have to look at the body sitting next to you."

I glanced at the black cat staring up at me from next to me in the car…

"I was there when it happened, and it hit me instead. It's inside of me now… and I've been a kitten physically for ten years now."

Amazing… a Fountain of Youth that stole life and grants a sort of eternal life both at once…

"Like I said," Sissel said calmly "This body is indestructible. You could stab this body and there would be no damage."

Butler interrupted the conversation.

"Artemis, we've arrived at the park."

"So Artemis… what are you going to do?" Sissel said, his eyes continuing to gaze at me.

…I came to a decision after a long minute and spoke aloud.

"Well… I suppose we ought to get you back to your owners." I said to the cat sitting next to me.

Butler opened the door of the car for me, after performing his usual security checks and I stepped out. Sissel followed me out and we headed into the park.

I was leaving this alone... I only needed to return Sissel first, and offer my apologies.